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Disney Junior
| picture format = 720p (HDTV) 480i (SDTV) | owner = Disney Channels Worldwide (Disney–ABC Television Group) | slogan = Where the Magic Begins | country = United States United Kingdom | language = English Spanish | broadcast area = Nationwide | headquarters = Burbank, California | replaced names = As a network: Soapnet As a Disney Channel morning block: Playhouse Disney | former names = Playhouse Disney (1997–2011) Soapnet (2000–2012) | replaced by names = | sister names = | timeshift names = Disney Junior +1 | web = | sat serv 1 = DirecTV | sat chan 1 = 289 (HD/SD) | sat serv 2 = Dish Network | sat chan 2 = 168 (HD/SD) | sat serv 3 = C-Band | sat chan 3 = AMC 11 – Channel 44 (4DTV Digital) AMC 18 – Channel 12 (H2H 4DTV) | cable serv 1 = Available on most U.S. cable systems | cable chan 1 = Consult your local cable provider for channel availability | iptv serv 1 = Verizon FiOS | iptv chan 1 = 260 (SD) | iptv serv 2 = AT&T U-verse | iptv chan 2 = 306 (SD) 1306 (HD) | iptv serv 3 = Southern Fibernet | iptv chan 3 = 304 (SD) 1304 (HD) | iptv serv 4 = Google Fiber | iptv chan 4 = 429 (HD/SD) | online serv 1 = Sling TV | online chan 1 = Internet Protocol television | online serv 2 = PlayStation Vue | online chan 2 = Internet Protocol television | online serv 3 = DirecTV Now | online chan 3 = Internet Protocol television }} Disney Junior is an American digital cable and satellite television network that is owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit of the Disney–ABC Television Group, itself a unit of the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company. Aimed mainly at children 8 years and under, its programming consists of original first-run television series, theatrically-released and made-for-DVD movies and select other third-party programming. Until January 2017, Disney Junior also lent its name to a morning and early afternoon program block seen on sister network Disney Channel, branded as "Disney Junior on Disney Channel", airing weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (6:00 to 10:30 a.m. during the summer months and designated school break periods) and weekends from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. Eastern and Pacific Time.As of January 2017, Disney Channel continues to air a morning and early afternoon block of Disney Junior content, but has dropped its "Disney Junior on Disney Channel" on-air branding in favor of airing all programming under the "Disney Channel" moniker. A Spanish-language block airs on Univision under the name Planeta U. As of February 2015, Disney Junior is available to approximately 74,972,000 households (64.4% of those with television) in the United States. History Origins The Walt Disney Company first attempted to launch a 24-hour cable channel for preschoolers in the United States,Play nice now; Walt Disney Co. plans to introduce Playhouse Disney Channel, Broadcasting & Cable (via HighBeam Research), June 25, 2001.Retrieved on December 21, 2016 when the company announced plans to launch the Playhouse Disney Channel, a television offshoot of Disney Channel's daytime programming block Playhouse Disney, which debuted on the channel on May 8, 1997 (airing during the morning hours seven days a week, with the Monday through Friday blocks lasting until the early afternoon). Plans for the United States network were ultimately shelved, however dedicated Playhouse Disney Channels were launched in other countries internationally.SOAPnet Will Go Dark to Make Way for Disney Junior, Entertainment Weekly, May 26, 2010 The development of Disney Junior began on May 26, 2010, when Disney-ABC Television Group announced the launch of the channel as a digital cable and satellite service, which would compete with other cable channels targeted primarily at preschool-aged children such as Nick Jr., Qubo and PBS Kids Sprout; in addition, the Playhouse Disney block on Disney Channel would also be renamed under the Disney Junior banner, prior to the launch of the channel of the same name. The announcement also called for the 22 existing programming blocks and cable channels outside of the United States bearing the Playhouse Disney name being rebranded as Disney Junior.Disney/ABC Television Group Announces Disney Junior, a New 24-Hour Channel for Preschoolers and Their Families, The Futon Critic, May 26, 2010 The flagship cable channel in the United States intended to replace Soapnet, a Disney-owned cable channel featuring daytime soap operas seen on the major broadcast networks (including sister network ABC) and reruns of former primetime drama series, due to the continued decline in popularity and quantity of soap operas on broadcast television, along the growth of video on demand services (including the online streaming availability for soap operas) and digital video recorders that negated the need for a linear channel devoted to the genre. Launch Disney Junior first launched as a programming block on the Disney Channel on Valentine's Day, 2011. With the discontinuance of Playhouse Disney the day prior, the block's mascots Ooh and Aah were retired and some older programs were entirely discontinued. The Disney Junior channel was originally slated to debut in January 2012, but on July 28, 2011, the Disney-ABC Television Group pushed back the launch date from January to an unspecified date in late spring 2012,Soapnet to stay on the air longer into the New Year!, Michael Fairman On-Air On-Soaps, July 28, 2011. then setting the channel's launch date to February. On January 9, 2012, Disney-ABC Television Group announced that Soapnet's shutdown date for most providers was scheduled for March 22, 2012. Disney Junior's 24-hour cable channel counterpart officially launched the following day on March 23, at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time with the Super Dino Pals episode "Free Play" as the first program to air on the channel. Programming featured on the channel's initial lineup included Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and freshman original series Doc McStuffins; the channel also launched a new short-form series A Poem Is... as well as the weekend movie block, the Magical World of Disney Junior. Though it in effect took over the channel space held by Soapnet, an automated feed of that channel continued to exist for providers that had not yet reached agreements to carry Disney Junior (similar to other automated channel feeds that continued to operate during the transitions of Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids to The N (now TeenNick) and Fox Reality Channel to Nat Geo Wild), or held out so as to not lose subscribers due to the immediate loss of that network. These included some providers such as Cox Communications, Cablevision, DirecTV, Verizon FiOS and Time Warner Cable, which continued to carry Soapnet while having added the Disney Junior channel onto their channel lineups in turn.Villarreal, Yvonne. "Show Tracker: What You're Watching — Disney Junior 24/7 channel launches Friday." Los Angeles Times Blog 22 March 2012. Web. 19 April 2012. Soapnet's operations continued sixteen months later than had been originally planned, until the network officially shut down on December 31, 2013 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Television carriage Since its launch, Disney Junior became initially available to subscribers of Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Bright House Networks and Verizon FiOS;Disney Junior Launches on Friday; SOAPnet to Continue on Some Carriers, Hollywood Reporter, March 22, 2012. Other providers would sign carriage agreements to run the network following its launch: * On March 26, 2012, Cox Communications announced that it would carry Disney Junior, as part of the provider's "Variety Pak" package. * On April 3, 2012, Disney–ABC Television Group announced that it had reached a distribution agreement with the National Cable Television Cooperative to carry Disney Junior, which was expected to be carried on more than 950 independent cable companies in the 90 days following the agreement. * Cable One added the network to the digital tier of its systems around May 26, 2012. * On June 21, 2012, RCN began carrying the network on its systems. * On July 13, 2012, DirecTV announced that the Disney Junior network would be added to its lineup the following day on the 14th, a Saturday.Disney Junior will Launch Saturday, July 14 to Millions of DIRECTV Customers Nationwide Industry observers questioned both the unexpected announcement and untraditional weekend launch of the network as being timed to a nine-day carriage dispute between DirecTV and Viacom and the loss of Nick Jr. four days previously as a result of the dispute. * On December 31, 2012, Charter Communications came to terms with Disney–ABC Television Group on a new wide-ranging multiple year carriage agreement for ABC, all of the U.S.-based Disney Channels Worldwide and ESPN networks and ABC Family, which included the addition of Disney Junior to Charter systems throughout the first quarter of 2013. * On January 15, 2013, AT&T U-verse also reached a deal with The Walt Disney Company on a new wide-ranging multi-year agreement to carry the Disney–ABC Television Group family of networks and ESPN, which included the addition of Disney Junior. * Dish Network, the last major television provider to have not signed a carriage deal for Disney Junior, added the channel on April 10, 2014; after a long period of acrimony and a six-month extension of their past carriage agreement with The Walt Disney Company for a few select networks (some of which were not available in HD, partly as a result of a 2011 dispute with the company), Dish and Disney came to full terms on carrying all of Disney-ABC's networks in both standard and high definition on March 3, 2014 with the resolution of legal issues involving Dish's Hopper DVR system, which also included streaming rights for the networks as part of Dish's IPTV streaming service Sling TV. Programming Programming on the Disney Junior channel includes original series (such as Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Doc McStuffins and Sofia the First), shows formerly seen on the now-defunct Playhouse Disney block (such as Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny and Special Agent Oso) – including some that also air on the companion Disney Channel morning block and short-form series, as well as reruns of some older animated series that had previously been seen on sister network ABC, CBS (made prior to 1996) and programs from Disney Channel and Toon Disney, which are aired by the channel by popular demand (especially during the overnight graveyard slots). The network also airs classic animated films that were released theatrically by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (including Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar), along with Disney's direct-to-video sequels and original preschool projects with movie-length features, under two brandings: The Magical World of Disney Junior on weekends, and the more generalized Disney Junior Movie at most other times, which features a broader selection of films. Blocks Disney Junior Night Light Disney Junior Night Light is the Disney Junior channel's overnight programming block, running daily from 9:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. Eastern and Pacific Time. The block, which debuted on September 4, 2012 and is sponsored by Babble (under a similar underwriter sponsorship agreement as that regularly used by Disney Channel, which, like Disney Junior, operates as a commercial-free service), consists of short-form programs intended for co-viewing among parents and their children. Features seen as part of the block include Picture This (which presents sketches of Disney characters being drawn), DJ Tales (a segment featuring costumed finger puppets with twists on traditional fairy tales) and Fresh & Easy (a segment featuring cooking tips aimed at parents, presented by celebrity chef Helen Cavallo). Additional series under development at the block's launch included a photography series, a series that follows parents through the day their new baby comes home after being born, and a show about stay-at-home dads. Related services List of international Disney Junior channels Former References External links * * Disney Junior Press Category:Children's television networks in the United States Category:Disney Channel Category:Disney television networks Category:Commercial-free television networks Category:Television programming blocks Category:Television channels and stations established in 2012 Category:English-language television stations in the United States Category:Disney Junior